Who PIC Riker is in Star Trek Fleet Command
PIC Riker is an Epic, four-star Federation officer with a Command class, drawn from the late-career Will Riker who shows up in Star Trek: Picard. He is built for PvP combat, with a captain ability that lights enemy player ships on fire and an officer ability that crushes opposing Battleships at the moment combat starts.
If you spend a lot of time in player-versus-player fights and your shipyard leans on Battleships as targets, Riker is a captain worth a real look. Outside of PvP against Battleships, his kit does much less.
Star Trek background
Will Riker spent fifteen years as first officer to Jean-Luc Picard on the USS Enterprise-D and USS Enterprise-E before taking command of his own ship, the USS Titan. He married Deanna Troi, and the two of them settled on the planet Nepenthe after their young son Thad died from a degenerative illness. By the time Star Trek: Picard opens, Riker is older, quieter, and less interested in starship life, until events drag him back into it.
The PIC seasons give him two real returns to duty. He helps Picard during the synthetics crisis at the end of season one, and during season three he ends up back on a starship bridge under Captain Liam Shaw during the Vadic and Changeling arc on the Titan-A. That late-career Riker is the version STFC borrowed for this officer: the seasoned veteran with a temper that flares when his ship is threatened.
Role in STFC: a Federation Command captain built for PvP
Most Federation Command officers in STFC bend toward defense, support, or hostile farming. PIC Riker is the opposite. His captain ability and his officer ability are both targeted at player ships, which puts him squarely in the PvP camp. Both effects only apply when the enemy is a real player, not an NPC hostile or an armada target, so he is not a pick for grinding faction reputation or chasing event hostiles.
His role is narrow and aggressive. If you are running a Battleship hunter setup and the targets in front of you are other players’ ships, he earns his bridge seat. If your usual play is mining, hostile grinds, or armadas, he is a sub for someone else.
Captain ability: Fire from Will!
Riker’s captain ability is called Fire from Will!. The effect plays out across the whole fight rather than as a one-shot trigger. At the start of each combat round, his captain ability gives the ship a chance to apply Burning to the enemy player ship for three rounds. Burning is a damage-over-time status, so a successful application keeps chipping away at the target while your weapons do their normal work.
A few practical things to know. The effect only fires against player ships, so it sits idle in PvE. The Burning duration is three rounds per application, and because the check runs every round, repeated applications can refresh or stack the status as the fight goes on. The captain ability’s per-rank values in the raw data are not safe to read directly, so treat Riker’s burn chance as a strong recurring effect rather than a number to chase. The shape of the ability does not lend itself to a per-rank table here.
Officer ability: We’re through running!
Riker’s officer ability is We’re through running!. When he sits on the bridge of your ship and the enemy is a player Battleship, the ship’s base Weapon Damage gets a large boost at the start of combat, and the boost holds for the rest of the fight. The bonus scales cleanly with his rank, climbing from a strong early-rank number to a much larger late-rank one.
The narrow conditions matter. The ability only triggers against player ships, and only when the target is a Battleship. Against an Explorer or an Interceptor, against any hostile, or against an armada, it does nothing. He pairs naturally with a Battleship-killing captain on a ship that has the firepower to convert that opening damage spike into real hull loss.
Per-rank values, current as of the latest game data
| Rang | Base Weapon Damage boost vs. player Battleships |
|---|---|
| 1 | 500% |
| 2 | 900% |
| 3 | 1,500% |
| 4 | 2,200% |
| 5 | 3,000% |
Treat these numbers as a snapshot. STFC patches officer values from time to time, so if the in-game tooltip differs from this table, trust the game client.
Where PIC Riker shines
The clearest fit is a PvP Battleship-killer crew. Slot him on a ship hunting other players’ Battleships and his officer ability fires at the start of every qualifying fight. The base Weapon Damage boost lands in the opening exchanges where shields and hull are still high, which is exactly when a flat damage spike pays off most.
He is also a reasonable captain on a general PvP ship even when the target is not a Battleship, because Fire from Will! ticks away regardless of the opposing ship class. If you spend time scouting in player space and getting into recurring scraps with other players, that round-by-round Burning chance is steady value.
He is not the right pick for PvE grinds, mining, station defense, or armadas. The two abilities are written for player targets, so most of his kit is dormant outside PvP.
How to get PIC Riker shards
Riker is in the PIC group with the rest of the Star Trek: Picard officers. Shard sources for officers in that group rotate between event arcs, recruit tokens, and any active PIC-tied store offers. To rank him from recruitment up through rank five takes 1,750 shards in total, with the largest single chunk required to push into rank five.
Rather than chasing a specific drop, check current event rotations, the PIC-themed arcs when they cycle in, and any recruit tokens that explicitly include him in the pool. If nothing is live right now, he will likely return on a future cycle, so a patient build is fine.
Shard cost to rank up, per the in-game progression
| Rang | Shards to promote into this rank | Cumulative total |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 120 | 120 |
| 2 | 120 | 240 |
| 3 | 240 | 480 |
| 4 | 320 | 800 |
| 5 | 950 | 1,750 |
Crew building and synergies
Riker is a Federation Command officer in the PICARD group. On a PvP ship, his captain seat works best when he is the captain himself, because his round-by-round Burning chance only fires from that slot. If he is the bridge officer instead, you pick a captain whose ability fits Battleship killing or general PvP, then let Riker’s We’re through running! ability boost the opening damage.
The third officer seat is open. Defensive officers, accuracy boosters, or another Command-class officer for crew class synergy all work, depending on what your build is short on. The PIC group as a whole leans toward PvP-flavored officers, so other PIC officers can fit naturally next to him on a hunter ship.
At the time of writing, no named in-set synergy officer list is published for Riker, so there is no single “ride with this officer” pairing the game flags as an automatic bonus. Treat his crew building as open-ended around the PvP Battleship-killer concept and pick the captain and third based on the ship and the matchup, not on a specific synergy line.
Character traits
Riker’s traits unlock as he levels, with each trait line adding small bonuses on top of his core abilities. Spend on traits after the captain seat is doing real work for you in PvP and you have him in regular rotation, since traits cost officer XP that you might prefer to spend elsewhere early on. There is no need to invest before the ship he is built for is the one you actually fly into player fights.
Frequently asked questions
Is PIC Riker any good?
For PvP-focused players who hunt Battleships, yes. His officer ability gives a large opening Weapon Damage spike when the target is a player Battleship, and his captain ability adds steady Burning pressure across the fight. For players who do not spend much time in player combat, his kit sits idle most of the time.
Does PIC Riker work in PvE?
Mostly no. Both his captain ability and his officer ability call out player ships in their text. Against hostiles, armada targets, and other PvE content, the abilities do not trigger. He is a PvP officer.
What ship is PIC Riker best on?
Any PvP-focused ship that you take into player Battleship fights, especially one with the raw firepower to convert his opening damage spike into real hull loss. He works as the captain of that ship rather than as a third-seat passenger.
Where do I get PIC Riker shards?
Shard sources rotate. Check current PIC-themed events, recruit tokens, and any active store offers in the game client that include PIC group officers. If nothing is up right now, wait for the next PIC cycle.
Is PIC Riker worth ranking to five?
If you have committed to a PvP Battleship-killer ship that runs with him as captain, the late-rank jump in the Weapon Damage boost is large, so rank five is the payoff target. If he is sitting on the bench, the 950 shards for the final rank are better saved for an officer you actually use.
Bottom line
PIC Riker is a PvP specialist with a clean job: light enemy player ships on fire as captain and spike opening Weapon Damage against player Battleships from the bridge. If your account spends real time in player combat against Battleship-heavy targets, he earns his seat. If you mostly fight NPCs, he is a hold for another captain.